The underwater lighting system at the water polo stadium was working perfectly, as was the noisy PA in the hockey arena. The athletics stadium and the many other venues around the Olympic Park had survived April's torrential rainfall with barely the tiniest leak.

But as London 2012 began its final week of test events before the Games commence in 12 weeks, Lord Coe admitted that one particularly British problem was likely to prove beyond his powers to fix, saying: "There will be queues."

"It will take longer getting into and out of Olympic venues," the Locog chairman admitted. "Particularly if you are benchmarking it against Wimbledon, Lord's or Wembley. There's an added layer of security."

"Yes, there will be checking, yes there will be testing. There will be queueing."

More than 140,000 spectators will attend competitive events in the Olympic Park this week, as the remaining seven from a total of 42 sports complete a final test of their facilities.

Though the crowd of a few thousand on site on Wednesday for a mini hockey tournament involving selected international teams was a comparative handful compared with a normal day's action during the Games themselves, the event offered organisers Locog a chance to examine everything from passenger-flow rates to the airport-style security systems, from the golf carts for those with mobility problems to the flushes in the ladies' toilets.

They will also allow Locog to clear one particularly critical hurdle – the Olympic Stadium is not yet licensed to house its full capacity of 80,000.

Only after observing how a crowd of half that number is managed on Saturday evening, when the stadium plays host to an athletics-cum-music event in which the venue will be officially opened by a member of the audience, will Newham council grant the stadium a safety certificate.

Asked about the lengthy queues for airline passengers arriving at London airports, which have raised particular fears of major disruption during the Olympics, Coe said he was in discussion "all the time" with government officials and airport operators about the problem.

"I am satisfied that at Games time it will work very well for accredited members of the Olympic movement, particularly athletes, but also in a way that doesn't intersect badly with the thousands of other people who will be coming into and out of London.

"From the prime minister down there's a recognition that we have to get this right."

John and Jackie Hobbs-Mallyon from Marlow in Buckinghamshire had queued for 30 minutes to get through airport-style security at the entrance to the Olympic Park, but thought that wasn't too bad: "It's what you expect these days, isn't it?" For others, however, particularly those arriving a few hours later, getting onsite had been swift and problem-free.

"The pace at which people arrive at the venue is calibrated by the number of trains and the number of people who can be produced by the transport system," said Paul Deighton, Locog's chief executive. "There's a maximum number of people who can come in at any one time."

With 62 bag-check lanes at the perimeter to the park operating this week and a further 100 operational during the Games, he said he was confident that waiting times wouldn't exceed more than 20 minutes. He has 12 weeks to make it happen.